Tarot Café #1

The second volume of 'The Tarot Cafe,' includes the conclusion to 'A Heartless Princess, an Alchemist, and a Jester,' as well as 'The Werewolf Boy' and 'The Witch Hunt.' I must admit to having been completely seduced by Sang-Sun Park's delectable artwork by this point - I especially love the tarot-card reading protagonist, Pamela - with her wide dark eyes framed by thick lashes, short cloud of dark hair, and small dark lips - she's beautiful, and Park makes her expressions both subtle and powerful. The rest of the characters all have an overwhelming beauty to them. They are androgynous beings with long hair, make up, and elaborate, detailed gothic costumes, with mutable sexuality. The scenes are framed and arranged in striking and powerful ways, as well. Page 143 displays an inverted bird's view of a woman tied to a stake, her long hair tumbling over her shoulders, torn by the wind as though she's falling through space, and is stunning. I was glad to see 'The Heartless Princess...' story continued, with a very fitting conclusion, although I still wish it could have been included together with Part 1 in the first volume. The second story in this collection merges the werewolf legend with a twisted version of the 'Rapunzel' story and a little taste of 'Beauty and the Beast.' The beautiful sorcerer Nebiros who, '...must suffer alone in darkness every night,' in his gothic castle surrounded by werewolves, is another androgynous, beautiful figure, his sexuality and intentions towards the boy, Aaron (the 'Rapunzel' of the story) are ambiguous, leaning towards the seductive. As is tradition of fairy tales of this sort, Aaron breaks the one rule of never leaving the castle/tower, and so must be separated from Nebiros. Aaron ends up joining Pamela in her cafe as part-time help, and seems likely to remain as a supporting character. The last half of the book is taken up with 'The Witch Hunt,' a story which focuses this time on the mysterious protagonist herself. An encounter with a beautiful young man on the run reawakens memories in her of a long ago mentor and lover named Ash. This is a story of religious fanaticism, with the Christians of Thirteenth Century Europe responsible for a great tragedy in Pamela's past, paralleled by a modern cult which is chasing after the young man who so reminds her of her long-lost lover. More of Pamela's powers and past are revealed, and it makes for an excellent story. The climax, where Pamela is stabbed in the waist with a spear, and then crushed beneath a stone statue, only to burst from the rubble saying, 'I couldn't have lived as long and suffered as much if I could've died this easily!' is stunning, and there's a final twist on the last page that will leave you itching to get your hands on volume 3!more